Absence of the Heart
by The Sneaky Fox
Summary: AU. After the War, Tali and Shepard plan for their future. But when her father steps in and forces the two apart with a terrible proposal, their bond is tested to its limits. Rated M for all that it entails.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Contrary to popular belief, I am in fact not dead, only suffering from crippling writer's block. To get back on track and have some semblance of literary productivity stay in my life, I've decided to take on _another _side project, separate from Echoes or the ME2 novelisation I've also been working on.

This is quite different from my usual stories, but the premise greatly appealed to me and I'm a stickler for conflict, so it'll be another full-blown piece to add to my large encyclopaedia of drama.

As always, I hope you enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter One: Tying Up a Deal**

_Cognisance quickly fled as every nerve, every sensation was filled with a horrible burning. Screeching filled his ears and he curled inwards, clamping his hands over his ears, only to find that the noise was inside his own head._

_It was the voices of gods doomed. He could hear the Reaper's pain—feel it—as they pierced the barriers of his brain. Their inky black tendrils tore into every tissue—he could feel each bullet that impacted their hulls, the fiery plumes of smoke that washed over them from every rocket. _

_And now, he could feel the bright crimson pulse that was slowly flooding the galaxy, threatening to swallow him up in passing. It rippled through his skin, like thousands of pinpricks throughout his blood._

_He noted dimly that he was floating. Shepard could see fire licking around his armour and limbs, but the pain of his flesh was trivial. He would give anything to only experience the simple pain of a burn—it was not nearly as horrifying as the all-consuming, world-ending agony that he felt as the Reapers whispered in his ear, demanding he suffer their pain._

_His back spasmed as he slammed into rending metal, then felt his knee go limp as its supporting bones and muscle shattered like glass. He was unconscious now, but even in oblivion he could not escape the torture. They were all in his head, every One of them, all speaking and howling at once in a language alien to the mortal form. It was loud and quiet at the same time, guttural and beautiful, violent and peaceful. It was the sound of everything that had ever been, and the promise of anything that ever will be. _

_Then one voice went silent. The deafening cacophony now had one less sound to it. _

_Another now, then another still. The ink threading through his skull, skin and bones was pulling away, snapping apart and shrivelling into nothing. The screeching became quieter, not quite so overwhelming in its power. The red wave of energy, which was slowly consuming the spirals of the Milky Way, was taking with it creatures that went against the very nature of mortality itself._

_Yet one still lingered, one still held on. Its voice was quiet, almost incoherent in the wake of the deafening wail of its brother's voices, but it was there. And it raged at him, howling its defeat in a fury so pure and red that he couldn't think around it, couldn't even begin to try to understand something so inhumanly undiluted._

_And then it fell silent, and his mind went still._

* * *

Surprisingly, the beep of Shepard's heart monitor hadn't ever irritated her, even after months of listening to it; the echo had always whined in time with her own heart, beating evenly underneath its cage of bones.

The man the heartbeat belonged to was himself asleep, bruised face peaceful in spite of the crippling injuries that plagued his body. Tali wrung out the washcloth in her hands for the eighth time and walked over to his hospital bed, smiling faintly. She pressed the cool, damp material to his burnt skin, smoothing it over his forehead and under his eyes.

He was making progress; he'd begun complaining about the mushy porridge the doctors were giving him, a sign of improvement. He'd even asked with a charming flash in his eyes if she wouldn't mind sharing her body heat with him under the blankets, since he was rather cold. The more than reluctant "no" she'd given him had transformed his face into a near-comical look of disappointment. Jumping on a good opportunity, she told him if he behaved well and didn't argue with the nurses or try to start walking when no one was looking, she'd unplug his heart monitor and make it up to him.

His health had only gone uphill from there.

When she'd finished wiping his face, she skimmed the cloth over the exposed muscle of his arms and chest, doing her best to keep him clean. She had insisted that she be the one to give him baths, something he had never objected to—in fact he had attempted several times to guide her soapy hand to somewhere other than his arms and face, although he hadn't yet succeeded.

Now done with her quick clean, she tossed the cloth into the basin next to his cot and sat down on the uncomfortable chair that had been her bed for the past few months. Tali slipped her hand into his limp, far larger palm, smoothing a thumb over his split knuckles. She sighed, studying the broken man that lie in front of her, and happiness spread in her chest.

They were free, now. With Shepard no longer lingering under the threat of death, she could finally look ahead for the first time in her life and be completely content. They would fly to Rannoch, buy a large plot of land, maybe near the beach, and begin constructing their home. They might even get married.

It was a path filled with joy. She could see her not-yet-build house, standing in the rusty dirt of her people's world, waiting to be furnished and lived in. It would not be subjected to danger or loss, blood or death. It would be filled with light and hope and the future she had only ever wished for with the man she loved.

The only hiccup in this utopia was her father. Rael was not an understanding man; he had quite openly expressed his hatred for Shepard, and for no other reason than the fact that John was human and that he loved her. Not even the reclaimation of their homeworld had warmed her father up to her boyfriend—he'd only stated that now the quarians had no use for the commander.

It had been a struggle, if one were to put it lightly. No argument, no point, could she make with her father to show him what a good man Shepard was, and how happy he made her. It only ended in a lecture that made her drift away into her own thoughts while she waited for Rael to stop speaking.

He had become even more enraged when she hadn't went with him to Rannoch and instead stayed on Earth with Shepard. But at least he couldn't yell at her here or make her feel terrible.

"I wasn't aware my knee was so interesting," a dry voice commented, breaking her away from her thoughts and realising that she'd been staring at John's leg for the past five minutes.

She jumped, looking at him. He was smiling faintly, a cut on his bottom lip threatening to split open. Tali stood up from her seat and smiled back, smoothing her hand up his arm and touching his cheek. "How are you feeling?" she asked quietly.

He shrugged, then winced. "Alright. Pretty stiff though." She heard the unasked question in his voice and sighed.

"You know the doctor said you can't start walking around for another few days. You've got to give your legs more time to heal."

"I know," he huffed, shifting in bed. He braced his palms under himself and began moving into a sitting position. He refused her offer of help—something that hardly surprised her—and groaned as he lie back against lumpy pillows. She glared at him, but it dissolved into a sigh when he tugged on her hand. She sat down on the edge of the mattress and leaned into him, resting her head against his chest. He wrapped an arm around her, relaxing back into the pillows.

"I just want you to get better," she whispered. "Please don't push yourself."

His arm squeezed her closer to him, and she felt his cheek rest on her hooded head. "Don't worry—the faster I heal, the faster I get to sleep in my own bed again. With you," he added, grinning. "I won't compromise my prospective sex life by being careless."

"I'm so glad to hear it," she replied dryly, shaking her head. She was about to pull her legs up and snuggle up to him when she heard her omni-tool pulse with an incoming message. Sighing, she pulled away from her boyfriend and looked down at her wrist. A groan escaped her when she saw who the sender was.

"Your father, hm?" Shepard asked, noting her drooping shoulders. She nodded.

"Yes." She stood up, mouthing twisting into a frown as she opened the message.

_Tali,_

_Your absence on Rannoch has not gone unnoticed. Quarian political decisions need your full attention as an admiral, and I expect to see you here within the next solar day. Our business will be concluded within the week and then you'll be free to start building a home for yourself here._

_- Admiral Rael'Zorah_

Her jaw clenched, the last sentence echoing in her mind. She was used to her father's messages being abrupt, but the unsaid order hiding between the lines infuriated her.

Shepard watched his girlfriend, and saw her entire body tense, head dipping lower and lower as she read on. He shook his head faintly. Whatever it was, her father wasn't pleased.

"He wants me to come to Rannoch. Something about quarian politics. And then I'm 'free to start building myself a home there'." she seethed, looking over at Shepard. Her silver eyes, which glowed brightly behind her opaque mask, were filled with anguish. "I can't leave you." she whispered.

He gave her his most reassuring smile, feeling his heart clench in disappointment. They had both known that a message like this would have come eventually, but that had been easy to ignore in each other's company. "I'll be fine by myself," he said soothingly. "I'll be out soon anyway."

"No you won't." Her voice was still soft, so soft he could barely hear her above the beep and whirl of medical equipment. "You can't leave for another month, at least. And it sounds like I'll be stuck on Rannoch for that or longer." Tali's hands balled into fists. "Why does he have to do this?" she asked aloud, voice finally growing in volume.

Shepard reached out a hand to her, watching her struggle with herself in the middle of the room. She looked at his hand for a long moment, as if wondering what it was, until she wrapped her fingers around his, squeezing tightly.

"He'll come around," he said with more confidence than he felt. "It might take awhile, but he can't hate me forever."

* * *

A day later, with her bags packed, she waited for her shuttle to enter Rannoch's atmosphere.

She'd said a long goodbye to Shepard the day before, hearing his promise of getting well as soon as he could and eventually following her there. She knew it would likely be a month before she saw him again, but his words comforted her nonetheless.

She leaned back into her seat, sighing. It was just a small bump, was all. Even though staying away from Shepard for so long would hurt, she took comfort in the fact that when he arrived on Rannoch, they'd finally be able to start their life together.

Now to just deal with her father. She'd learned of many tools to use when negotiating with the man—it was always negotiating, never speaking—that would hopefully be enough to convince him to tolerate Shepard. She didn't even care if Rael ever grew to like John, Tali just wanted him to not hate his guts.

A miraculous feat to achieve, in her fatalistic opinion.

Not wanting to linger on that thought, she opened her omni-tool and began going over just a few of the plans the Admiralty Board had for re-colonising their world. She had to admit that they were all strategically sound and fiscally wise, two things that were nearly encoded into a quarian's DNA—the less you waste, the more you end up with.

She was needed for helping jump-start the agricultural industry. Her people never had true farms for the last few hundred years, only factory-esque greenhouses. She'd asked Hackett if she could send human-based farming plans back to Rannoch, to which he openly agreed, giving her access to the few farms left undamaged by the War.

She also saw in the files that they'd promoted a ship captain to become another admiral, an unsurprising movement; the quarian goverment was not built for planet-side politicking, and they needed extra hands to support the still-frail structure of a newly built life for her species. Tali just hoped the man was less insane than Gerrel or Xen. Another lunatic in parliament was worse than having no one at all.

She idly flicked through the files, impatiently waiting to get to Rannoch. She didn't enjoy dwelling on thoughts of the disapproving looks her father would give her, or those slight shakes of his head that drove her insane, and sitting in a spartan shuttle with only dry political plans to sift through did little to occupy her mind.

As if on cue, she heard the intercom bong overhead, followed by a VI's monotone voice stating that they'd be entering atmosphere in a few minutes.

Tali stood up, stretching and looking about the metal box of the vehicle. She doubled checked her luggage, which was really only one small bag. It held her shotgun and pistol, their cleaning kits, a few thermal clips, and the tiny pink shopping bag Kasumi had given her a few weeks ago. Tali had found, to her chagrin, lingerie inside. The thief had insisted that it was a female essential, especially when she had "such a hot boyfriend", and had prodded Tali until she promised she'd try them on.

She hadn't shown them to Shepard yet, likely a wise decision. The man was already insistent enough as it is. Showing him the dark lacy fabric would be counterproductive to his healing, as much as Tali wanted to, if only to see his reaction.

_Better make sure your father doesn't carry your luggage._

The shuttle shook as it entered atmosphere, making her grab onto the bar above her head. Tali rolled her shoulders and huffed out a breath. Into the dragon's den, as they say.

* * *

Rael'Zorah was a man of little change. He seemed to have this eternal grumpiness about him, a trait that almost seemed at odds with the cool, professional set to his shoulders.

He looked the same as the last time she'd seen him. Hell, he looked the same as he did when she was a child. His suit was the familiar black and grey brushed metal, sparsely decorated with utility belts and the near-black purple cloth that resembled the far lighter fabric winding around her own body. He stood waiting outside the Neema, which had been set down on the dust of their planet and haphazardly transformed into a political base of operations for the time being. It was a subtle reminder—something she was sure her father had done on purpose—that she no longer bore the ship's name. She had remembered his burning fury at her taking up a human ship name, which only increased tenfold when he'd figured out she was sleeping with the captain of that very ship.

"Father," she said diplomatically, and saw his head dip marginally in acknowledgement.

"It's good to finally see you on Rannoch's soil," he replied, then motioned for her to come inside the ship. "I'd like a word before we begin."

She nodded, ignoring the small barb. Hefting her bag over her shoulder, she followed him into the tiny door of the ship and stepped into its dark confines, only a degree or two cooler than the arid heat of outside. He led her down a residential "street" of the ship, though it was unfamiliar to her. Her father stopped at a seemingly random door and keyed the console open, gesturing that she go first.

Passing through the doorway, she dropped her bag in one corner and looked around. It was about the size of the Normandy's medbay, the walls covered in decorative fabric and the shelves stocked with the familiar metallic art her people created with spare parts and old steel. It was furnished with a single bed designed for a couple, a table with two chairs, and a small kitchen. A tiny door off to the side hid what she figured was a small bathroom. It was a completely normal, average quarian home.

"You'll be staying here while you help the other admirals and I with re-colonisation," her father began, watching her look about the room.

She arched a brow in surprise, though he couldn't see it. "I'll be staying here? It's awfully large for one person."

Rael said nothing, making her turn to look at him. "I don't mind sharing with another family, if that's wh—"

"It'll just be one other person in here." he stated flatly. He'd gone oddly tense, and almost looked uncomfortable. It immediately made her anxious.

"With who, then?" she asked suspiciously.

"We've promoted someone to join the Admiralty Board. His name is Laaz'Mal, and you'll be sharing this home with him."

Tali narrowed her eyes. Families sharing their home was commonplace, but it was rare that two random people would share a room. It wasn't a practical use of space.

"I only see one bed," Tali noted, not taking her eyes off her father. "I'd hate for him to have to sleep on the floor."

"Tali," her father began, and she felt rage instantly flare at his tone. "Listen to m—"

"You set me up with him?" she asked hotly, hands balling into fists. "I'm not interested. I've got Shepar—"

"We've already discussed this," Rael argued, just as hotly. "He is not a good man for you. And the deal has already been tied up. You're g—"

"'Deal'? 'Tied up'?" she demanded. "What are you talking about? What deal?"

"Laaz'Mal is an ideal match for you. He has a good captain's record, and I've been told that he's quite handy with—"

"What deal?" she repeated, eyes boring into her father's, who for once seemed to not want to meet her eyes.

"You are to be bonded with him within the next few days. It'll give us a good political advantage and strengthen the—"

_"What!?" _she shrieked, feeling her arms begin to shake. "You're _marrying me off? _How... how dare you? You can't possibly think that—that I'd agree to this! Are—are you... insane? You—"

"Tali, it's final. All he needs is a parent or relative's consent—"

"This isn't—it's not the Third Cycle anymore! You can't just—just marry off your daughter to-to some random—"

"The law was never stricken from our system when the geth forced us to leave, only frowned upon. But you've left me no choice in the matter, Tali. You won't listen to me when I repeatedly told you to stay away from the commander. He's an alien, a brute, and barely knows anything about technology! How could you possibly find that—that _human,"_ he spat the word as if it were a curse. "Attractive?"

Her entire body was shaking by now. Her brain was burning with anger, making it difficult to speak. "You..." she whispered, shaking her head. "No. No, no. I won't do it. I'm leaving," she said abruptly, reaching for her bag.

Her father grabbed her arm, hard enough to make her look at him. "You'll do no such thing, Tali'Zorah. You are to stay here on Rannoch."

She looked him straight in the eye, forcing her shivering limbs to still. She calmed her breathing, and when she spoke, it was clear and cold.

"Fuck you."

She saw his eyes widen and he twisted her arm, making her grit her teeth in pain. "You will listen to me very carefully, Tali," he began, voice dangerously quiet. "If you leave Rannoch and return to that human, I will make sure that you will not set foot here again. I will track you to the ends of the galaxy and make it my life's goal that Shepard never once touches you. He will forget you ever drew breath." He jerked on her arm, pulling her towards the door. "Now stop acting like a child and come meet your husband. I'm sorry that it's come to this, but I can only treat you like an adult if you behave like one."

She stumbled out of the room, too stunned to do anything but let her father haul her down the narrow corridor.

* * *

Laaz'Mal was a rather short, slim man, his body encased in a brown envirosuit. He wore a belt painted with a tacky coat of gold colouring, and his head was adorned with a surprisingly simple black cloth. There was an odd, pampered set to his shoulders, rare for quarians, and Tali hated him instantly.

"Ah, Admirals, good morning," he said in a high voice, nodding towards Tali. "I don't believe we've met."

"No indeed," Rael interjected, gesturing to Mal. "Laaz'Mal, this is my daughter, Tali."

"Tali," he said in a voice Tali knew he thought sounded soothing. "It's good to finally meet you. Your father speaks highly of you."

She stared dazedly at him, not saying anything. The silence grew uncomfortable quickly, and her father shook her. "Tali?"

"I have a boyfriend," she blurted, and saw Mal's eyes narrow for a second before he put his happy facade back in place.

"So Rael has told me. I'd heard it was going terribly, shame that. Although, what can you expect from aliens?"

This statement finally answered the question burning in the back of her mind: why had her father chosen this man?

The answer was terrifyingly simple. Because Mal was an exact copy of Rael.

"It's going quite well, actually." she corrected, and felt her father's hand on her shoulder squeeze down painfully.

"Now now," Rael warned, and she could hear the subtle undertones of rage. The hallway fell silent once more, and after a moment her father coughed, and looked down at his wrist.

"You two will be able to speak more later. Right now we're needed at a meeting. Come," he waved, motioning for all three of them to head towards whatever politics that awaited them.

Her father walked ahead, clearly wanting Mal and her to "bond". Tali simply stared straight ahead, very careful to not accidentally brush against the man walking beside her. Or explode and beat the shit out of her father.

"It'll be awkward at first," Laaz said quietly to her. "But it'll get better with time, I'm sure."

"Mm," she grunted. She could feel his eyes on her, but refused to look at him. She heard a sigh next to her, and Mal took another stab at making conversation.

"What's the Normandy like? I've heard it's the most advanced ship in the galaxy. The engines must be amazing."

She clenched her jaw, silently fuming. She could praise the SR-2's drive core for hours on end—it was one of her most favourite topics. To be asked such a compelling question by someone she'd decided to already hate was infuriating.

"It's alright," she replied, wincing at the near-blasphemous words. She sent a silent apology to her beautiful ship, hoping to never have to utter such a damning comment again.

She could feel his anger at her apathy, quiet roiling beside her, and the intensity of it frightened her. She could see the effort he was making to keep calm and be civil. It was not a normal anger—he was the kind of man that carried rage around with him as he would a tool, and it put her on edge. Men who constantly hid their frustrations only made it more apparent to those that took one good look at them.

The rest of the way was travelled in dead silence, and was one of the most unpleasant walks Tali had ever endured. Her mind kept going back to Shepard. How would she get away from these two men? When would she see John again? What would she tell him?

She had no answers for any of those questions. Tali could almost see the look on Shepard's face when he received word about what was going to happen. His girlfriend would be married to another man.

She was going to get married. *Married.* To someone that wasn't Shepard. Worse, to someone she barely knew and didn't even like, let alone love. Because her father thought it was "best for her". Like she was a stubborn child who needed the intervention of adults because she was too stupid to see the obvious.

She did not pay attention in the meeting when they arrived there, and barely spoke the entire time. Instead, she focused on the fight she'd had with her father, and the threats he'd made in light of her attempted escape, especially the last line to his list of promises.

_He will forget you ever drew breath._


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two: Boundries**

According to her omni-tool, It had been twenty-three minutes since Rael had left the two of them alone in their new apartment, and not one word had been spoken.

Tali was curled up on one of the two chairs situated at the small table in the back of the room, her legs pulled up to her chest and her arms wrapped around her knees. She was glaring at the floor, as if the brightly-coloured carpet was at fault for this whole mess.

Her loving fiancé was sitting on the edge of the bed, moping. He'd tried one attempt at conversation, but had been quickly silenced by the glowing ire of her silver eyes. The last thing she wanted to do was entertain this stranger.

What Tali did focus on was how furious she was. Her father had legally bound her to another man using a law that predated quarian space flight. Patriarchal tribes or clans would often trade their women for resources or to strengthen a relationship among a community, and matriarchal ones doing the opposite. Those laws were now rotting in the books, remaining in place only for ceremonial purposes. They were invoked for dramatic effect exclusively among the high-ranking peoples of the quarians—they were thoroughly frowned upon as a legitimate practice among common circles. Unfortunately for Tali, she was, in all its damning responsibility, an admiral of her race.

And even with Tali's strained relationship with her father, the betrayal had cut her deeply. He was loud and overwhelming and controlling, but never had she thought him capable of something so... callous, to treat her as an object of trade so that he could spite Shepard in the most blunt way possible.

She knew that this was what this whole thing was really about. Rael had expressed deep hatred for her captain the moment he'd laid eyes on the man. Nevermind that Shepard had saved his life aboard the Alerai and convinced the admirals at the trial to drop the charges. Even reclaiming Rannoch and essentially saving the quarians from extinction wasn't good enough. All John would ever be in Rael's eyes was a geth-loving alien who slept with his daughter and stole her away from her rightful place among her people. The man that had exposed her to wars and violence and sex and alcohol. She had been his innocent little girl until this human brute had forced her into the world of the dark.

Tali sneered at her own thoughts. It was almost shaming to realise how naive and protected she'd been on the flotilla—of how much, both good and bad, had been missing from her life. But while she thought her new experiences were enriching, her father only saw them as a horrible danger. It was this very mindset that made her realise how much she had outgrown Rael.

Mal cleared his throat, breaking Tali away from her thoughts. She finally looked at him, and saw him eyeing her balled up form with something resembling both anticipation and fear. She sincerely hoped that fear would win out.

His hands rested on his knees, and she watched his fingers clench overtop the tan knee pads of his suit. The fact that his suit had no metal guards on it told her that he was not a soldier.

He cleared his throat again, rolling his shoulders. "Umm..." he began, looking around the room, as if he could find the words he was looking for pasted on the walls.

"Umm?" she echoed unhelpfully.

"Are you... are you ever coming to bed?"

Her jaw clenched. "I'll be going to sleep at some point," she answered literally.

His breath escaped him in an irritated sigh. "That isn't what I—never mind. Just tell me when you're ready."

"Excuse me?" Tali uncurled from her position on the chair, hands balling into fists.

He shrugged. "You know. When you're calm and ready to come to bed."

"You—_calm?" _She shoved herself off the seat, eyes burning. "You think this is just, what? Just female hormones? That I'll get over my temper tantrum at my unfair daddy and finally fuck you when I'm calm?" That was the second time she'd used that word today, but her anger pushed away any thoughts of shame at her vulgar language.

He blanched behind his mask, surprised at her outburst. "Well—we _are_ married—"

"Not yet," she argued. "We're never going to be married. Ever."

"Your father has final say in this, lady. We're as good as married." He stood up from the bed. Mal looked larger than he had in the hallway, his shoulders appearing broader and frame larger in the dim apartment. She could sense his growing anger; it rolled off of him like a cloud.

She expected him to walk towards her, but he turned and strode over to the door and came to stop at the control panel beside it, raising his hand and punching in a few keys. A moment later she heard the whirl of over-worked filters kick in and a familiar monotone voice of a VI announcing that the room was beginning the decontamination process.

Her eyes widened. "No," she said forcefully, never taking her eyes off of him. "No, no." He took a small step towards her, hand tentatively outstretched, as one would approach a panicked animal. She raised her arm in warning, omni-tool glowing a fiery orange.

"Touch me and you'll burn alive," she snarled, breathing heavily.

He threw his arms up in exasperation. "Ancestors, would you calm down? What the hell's wrong with you?"

The vein in her forehead threatened to burst. "You're a horrible person, and a stranger. That's what my problem is."

"How the—"

She brandishing her glowing palm at him. "Stay away from me." Letting her arm drop after he backed away from her, she huffed out a breath, realising how tired she was.

"Now, I'm going to sleep—but we're not sharing the bed," she added quickly.

"Well I'm not sleeping on the floor," he shot back haughtily.

Somehow this shocked her more than anything else had. "What?"

He opened his mouth to speak, but she waved a hand at him. "Never mind. Just..." She dropped her arm and shook her head, looking around the room. The room she would live in for the rest of her life.

_No,_ she thought violently. _If I'm living on Rannoch, it will be with Shepard in a home both of us built._

"Just?" he prodded.

"Just take the bed, if you're too delicate to sleep on the floor." She brushed past him and grabbed the comfier looking pillow off of the bed. With a passing glance at her _fiancé,_ she tossed the pillow onto the farthest piece of carpet she could find. With an added thought, she also decided to grab her bag and set it down next to her sleeping place.

Tali sat down on the carpet, thankful to feel the thick fabric form at least somewhat comfortably under her. Unzipping the carrier bag, she dug around and brought out her Arc Pistol, slotting in a thermal clip.

"What the hell is that for?"

She looked up, seeing Mal glaring at the pistol in her hand. "Protection," Tali clarified.

"From?"

She narrowed her eyes. "Stay away from me and you'll never have to find out."

He threw his hands up in the air again, muttering something about women as he headed to the bed. He waved an arm at the ceiling, omni-tool dimming the lights until the only thing Tali could see were the tiny glowing lights on her pistol. She shifted on the floor, bringing her head down to rest on the rough pillow and curled in on herself. She faced the bed, not wanting to have her back to the man. Stuffing her bag behind her, she got as comfortable as she could, and began to wait.

* * *

She triple-checked Mal's vitals on her omni-tool, making sure that he was indeed asleep. Once she was completely certain, Tali quietly slung her bag over her shoulder and crept towards the door. Dimming the light on the glowing device wrapped around her arm, she opened the door and stepped out, then turned on her heel and locked the door's console as tightly as she could. Hopefully it would slow Mal down if he woke up.

With that done, she stepped silently down the narrow hallway, watching the way she planted her feet on the metal deck plating. She was confident that no one was awake at such an ungodly hour, but it never hurt to be careful.

Tali had waited a good three hours before the bastard finally fell asleep, battling against exhaustion and boredom as she lie on the hard floor of their apartment. She rolled her eyes at the thought; letting your bride sleep on the floor because you don't want to give up the bed. She was hardly one to take advantage of male chivalry when it came to giving women special treatment, but Laaz acted like a king in a cheap leather suit. She wondered how Shepard would react when she told him about it.

She arrived at the small airlock her father and her had entered the Neema in, quickly unlocking it and darting outside. The night air was significantly cooler than its sunny predecessor, enough that she turned up the internal temperature in her suit to keep warm.

The shuttles weren't far away; maybe a fifteen minute trek. Then a seventy hour flight to Earth, and she'd be back with Shepard, far away from her father or her supposed "perfect match".

Some part of her still hadn't quite registered what her father had done. For her to finally have the kind of future she had at most times believed unattainable throughout the War, one she had almost died for countless times, only for Rael to step in and do his damnedest to take it away from her.

Now she would have to live the life of a refugee until this all blew over and be called an adulteress in the media for cheating on her legally appointed spouse. And Shepard would not escape the ramifications of this burden either—he'd have to go on the run with her, living far away from his mother and crew to hide with her. As if she hadn't already taken away enough opportunities from the man, now he couldn't even share the galaxy's newfound victory with his own family.

But through that guilt and hardship, she could still see a light at the end of the tunnel—her father couldn't stay eternally pissed off at her, as much as he wanted to. And at least she wouldn't have to face this conflict alone. The thought of having Shepard by her side was enough to put the bounce back in her step. She would be able to be with him again, if nothing else.

She could see the small docking station up ahead from the light of Rannoch's moons, which lit up the night with a bright illumination that made everything look black and white. Even the rusty cliffs and dull brush that scattered the landscape were washed of colour, making the world looking like an abstract painting.

She looked down at the Arc Pistol in her grip, making sure the safety was on. She only had the gun out for intimidation purposes in the event that she encountered a late night dock worker—she wasn't going to risk being startled by someone and accidentally shooting them.

Her feet finally met metal plating instead of dirt, quietly announcing her arrival to the shuttle's docking station. She quickly spotted the vehicle with an Alliance symbol on the side as she jogged up the steps, heading to the shuttle she'd used to get here.

Shouldering her bag and feeling the strap rest comfortably between her shoulder blades once more, Tali pulled up her omni-tool and began searching for the access codes to the shuttle. Her eyes surreptitiously checked the surrounding area, wary of any unseen people.

As if in answer to her paranoia, a hand grabbed her shoulder, fingers digging into he skin. She cried out, whirling and bringing up her pistol. "Who—"

The figure latched his other hand onto her wrist, snapping it upwards and pulling the gun from her grip. She let her free arm fly, feeling her knuckles connect with the man's ribs. A short, synthesised grunt rang out in the dark of night.

"Tali! Calm down!" her father's voice insisted, his grip on her painfully tight.

She ignored him, yanking on her arm and shoulder until he relented and let her go. She huffed out a breath, angry that he had scared her and even more so at the fact that he was even here at all. "What do you want?" she barked.

"To know where you're going," he replied calmly, crossing his arms.

"Earth," she said bluntly. No point in lying.

"Why?"

She laughed humorlessly. "You're really going to ask that question?"

"You didn't answer me." Rael said flatly, his Father Voice being used in full force now.

"To be happy. I'm hardly going to find it here." She turned, walking up to the shuttle's door. "Just—"

"You aren't going anywhere," he thundered, grabbing her arm again. Her temper flared, and she jerked her wrist out of his grasp once more.

"I'm not a child, and I'm not an idiot—"

"Then stop acting like one," he growled, reaching for her arm again.

"Tell me," she insisted, and he looked at her oddly.

"What?"

"Tell me why you hate Shepard so much," she said impatiently. Rael threw his hands in the air.

"Where do I begin? He's an alien—"

"That's no reason to hate someone," she interrupted, taking pleasure in cutting off her father's words. "Give me one good reason to hate the man. He saved our people, saved us at the trial, made peace with the geth—" She realised her mistake as soon as the words left her lips.

"The geth! Ha! That—that man actually thinks they have a right to live with us on Rannoch. After what they've done to us! All of us! We've suffered quietly in our broken ships for hundreds of years, been looked at like street rats by the rest of the galaxy, been condemned to _these!" _He tugged on the fabric of his suit. "All because of the geth! And you're _boyfriend_ decides to save them! Tell them they can be _friends _with the quarians! Build homes next to us!" He was breathing heavily, and the look in his eye told Tali she'd lost this argument, and there was no way to win it back.

"And you want me to tell you why I hate him? He's sympathised with our murderers, then turns around and pretends to give a damn about the quarians, about you. He doesn't care about you—you're just, just his—toy!" he spat, then grabbed her arm, tight enough to cut off the flow of blood. "You'll never be with that man as long as I draw breath. And by the Ancestors, I mean it, Tali'Zorah; try to contact him or escape in the middle of the night, and you won't be allowed back on Rannoch. Gerrel and Xen and now Mal will all be informed of your instability. Try anything and they'll lock you out."

* * *

Raan had been by Tali's side for most of her life, but never in all her years had she seen the girl so upset.

"That _bastard!_ He's always talking about building me a house, making me happy, and giving me everything I could have dreamed of, but then takes away the one thing in my life that really mattered! What kind of father—what kind of _person_ does that?" Tali was pacing in her aunt's small living room, fuming and waving her arms wildly in anger. She had barged in at the crack of dawn, shouting to the rafters about what a horrible person Rael was. Raan had to duck a few times to avoid being hit with a flung out hand.

"Even worse, he sells me off to some bosh'tet who only wants to have sex with me because I'm the Great Tali'Zorah, the Quarian Who Helped Reclaim Rannoch! How can he sleep at night when he treats his daughter like a piece of furniture?"

"Tali—"

"He took my omni-tool away!" Tali whirled around and glared at Raan. "Did you know that? So I can't contact my _heretic_ of a boyfriend! He—"

"Tali, please," Raan pleaded, making a soothing motion with her hands. "Take a deep breath, child. You're going to hurt yourself."

Tali stopped pacing, losing steam at her aunt's words. The breath blew clumsily out of her, as if she wasn't exactly sure how to breathe. Tali bounced on her toes, the angry energy slowly releasing out of her in nervous habits that were old as sin. Sure enough, her fingers knotted themselves violently together, popping the joints with her vicious tugging.

"Now sit down," Raan ordered, gesturing to the lone chair sitting at her kitchen table. Her home was only the size of a large closet, with every room smashed together into one pocket-sized apartment.

Raan herself sat on the beat-up couch next to the table, eyeing Tali with more than a little sympathy. "I... had not heard your father had done this." Her niece jumped in her chair, reading to begin speaking again, but Raan held up a hand. "Just a minute. I want to make sure I know everything first." She cleared her throat, relaying back what she'd understood from Tali's torrent of rage. "So, he's forbid you to see Shepard?" Tali nodded, and she continued. "He married you to someone else, cut off your communications, and threatened to have you exiled from Rannoch if you try to see the commander again. Is that right?"

"Yes," Tali said flatly, silver eyes glowing with fury.

"... I see," Raan said quietly. She had known of Rael's dislike for Tali's captain, but hadn't been aware of how deeply that hatred had went.

"You have to help me auntie," Tali whispered urgently, grabbing her hand. "I don't know what to do. Mal, he—he wants to—"

"Mal? Do you mean Laaz'Mal, the new admiral? That's who your father married you to?"

"Yes. Well, we're not completely married yet. He said the ceremony would... would be tomorrow." Tali shook her head. "You have to help me," she repeated. "I don't want to be with him. I don't even want to be here—Shepard's still recovering and I want to... to help him get well." Her voice wavered, dangerously close to tears, but she held on. "I don't know what to do."

Raan's heart broke for the girl. She knew Mal, had met him at one of the meetings; he had been pleasant enough to her, but the way he'd eyed her told her that he had assessed her as harmless and therefore disposable. To be _married_ to such a man was another story.

Tali looked at her pleadingly, eyes filled with hope that her aunt would know what to do. The words she spoke next were all the more crushing for it.

"Tali, I... I cannot undo what your father has bound you to. Without looking at anything else, I am unable to legally intervene. You'll... have to go through with it."

She could see the angry tears in her niece's eyes, even behind the visor. "I don't want to," she whispered. "He's... he already wants to—to... have sex," she ended almost inaudibly. "I can't—I won't. But..." She trailed off, shoulders slumping in defeat. Tali put her head in her hands, body shaking with silent grief. "I don't want to," she whispered again.

Raan touched her arm, and the younger girl slid off the chair and sat next to her on the couch, leaning into her aunt. Raan wrapped her arms around Tali, rocking her gently. "We'll find another way," she whispered soothingly. "You may have to bide your time, but I think we'll be able to do something. You'll have to placate Mal until then." Raan sighed, closing her eyes. "In the meantime... I'll help you stay prepared."

"Prepared?" Tali asked, sniffling. "What—what do you mean?"

"In case... anything ever happens between you and Mal—"

"No," Tali thundered, springing off the couch. "No. I'm never sleeping with him."

"Just in case," Raan insisted sternly. "You do not know. But for now, I'm going to give you—" She stood up from her spot on the couch and walked towards the tiny door that opened to her bathroom. She quickly opened a small cupboard and grabbed the discrete slip of medication.

She walked back out, offering them to Tali. "These," she finished, gingerly waving them at the girl. "I no longer have any use of them. They should still work."

"Auntie..." Tali took the packet of dissolvable pills from Raan. "I can't..."

"Dissolve them in a cup of water and put them in any of your suit's medicinal filters. It will take about a week for them to work, so be careful for now. But if anything happens... I don't want you strapped with another burden."

"I..." Tali looked down at the small package, fingers tracing over a tiny round pill. "Thank you," she whispered, not looking up. "I won't ever... do anything, but..."

"Just in case," Raan finished, and Tali nodded.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Placation**

Chakwas placed two fingers just behind his knee. "Can you feel that?"

"Yes," he replied monotonously, sighing. She'd been repeating the exercise of touch and ask for the past thirty minutes, and his brain was starting to go numb.

"Don't get snippy. I'm just trying to help you." She gave him a look, then typed something down on the computer behind her. "Well, you seem to be improving; the nerves in your leg are responding more strongly to stimuli, and you're able to walk—"

"I wouldn't call taking two steps and falling over walking," he muttered deprecatingly.

Chakwas smiled at him and patted his good knee. "It's progress, and it's good progress. If you keep up daily physiotherapy, you should be able to retain almost all of your prior functionality."

_"Almost_ all?" Shepard asked, brows drawing together.

"You won't be able to return to your career of blowing up buildings and killing people," she began dryly. "But you'll be able to walk without a cane or crutches."

He grinned. "So, just a simple, civilian life? I can live with that." He sat back in the chair he rested in, rubbing a tired hand over his face. This was good news, at least. Not optimal, but it certainly wasn't bad news.

Tali would want to know. His chest tightened at the thought of her. She'd only been gone a few days and he already missed her like hell. Maybe he'd send her a message.

"John?" Chakwas's voice disrupted his thoughts, and he looked up at her. She stood in the room's narrow doorway, eyeing him with her familiar motherly steel.

"Mm?"

"If you need anything, please call. I'm serious," she added, pointing an accusing finger at him when he chuckled. "You don't have Tali here to make sure you keep breathing, so you damn well better take care of yourself. I don't care what hour it is, if you need something, let someone know. Okay?"

"Hand to God," he replied, raising his hand lazily in the air. She rolled her eyes, but seemed pleased with his response and left with a quiet "take care."

When the doors closed, he let his head fall back against the hard headrest of his chair. The beep of medical equipment was startlingly loud in the wake of Chakwas' departure. In truth, they had gotten louder ever since Tali left. In her absence, Shepard was all too aware of the surrounding solitude.

Old guilts and regrets began to creep into his mind, as they always did when he had five minutes alone to himself. Anderson, EDI, the geth, all haunted him the moment someone left the room.

To combat this mounting insanity, he decided that he'd send Tali a message. He'd tell her how he was doing and ask if she was faring well on Rannoch. Nodding at the task he planned out, he brought up his omni-tool and flipped through his contacts until he found Tali.

* * *

_**Message recipient: **__01 / Admiral Tali'Zorah vas Normandy nar Ra[error: maximum character input]_

_**Recieved:**__ GST 14:37, 8th Day of 2nd Term - Month 3, Y 2186_

_From: Cmdr. Shepard, Jonathan W._

_**Subject:**__ Recuperation _

_Tali,_

_Doctors told me that I'm responding to physiotherapy. It's slow going, but I'm able to feel parts of my leg which is apparently massive progress. I'll likely be stuck with crutches—maybe even a wheelchair—until they figure I'm ready to handle regular walking. You may be meeting a paraplegic at the docks, depending on how quickly I can heal. Vakarian was highly amused at the possibility of having to put access ramps in the Normandy. _

_I hope your arrival to Rannoch was well-received. I knew how excited you were to go back home—I'm praying your dealings in political dilemmas don't discolour your view of Rannoch. I can only reclaim so many homeworlds for you._

_I miss you. Never realised how annoying all the sounds coming from the medical equipment were until you left. Or how empty my room is. Believe me when I say I'm healing as fast as I can. I want to see you sooner rather than later._

_Your ever-faithful (crippled) servant,_

_- John_

* * *

"She told you?"

"Yes, Rael, my niece told me what was happening in her life. I would be hurt if she did not tell me something so important as her marriage to another man." Raan said, sounding resigned.

The admiral grunted in irritation, but let that line of attack drop. "Mal is a good man for her," he continued instead, eyeing their topic of conversation with approval, who was at the opposite end of the room attempting to fix a broken filter.

"As is Shepard," Raan ventured, and saw Rael's head snap back to meet her eyes.

"You can't possibly—" He scoffed, shaking his head. "A human man who cannot give my daughter children—and when the quarian population is so thin—sympathises with the geth, and wouldn't be able to save her life if even the simplest program in her suit stopped working." He shook his head. "Good man," he repeated with disdain.

"Tali is more than capable of saving her own life," Raan pointed out. "And you are forgetting that she knows all of these things, and loves him anyway. She is... very happy around him."

"Oh, I'm quite certain she thinks she loves him," Rael agreed. "But I know aliens, Raan. They know nothing of our people—"

"He is an intelligent man. He can learn. I have already heard him speak more about our culture than I have from any other human—or alien, for that matter."

Rael crosses his arms. "He can learn, but he can never _know_. The trials our people have endured, our culture, our beliefs, all of this he can read in a book or hear from you or my daughter. But he has never faced those trials, never held those beliefs. He is not one of us. He cannot give my daughter what she deserves, or even what she needs."

"Rannoch is not enough? The soil you stand on—"

"Was reclaimed to gain the quarians' love of the Alliance and ensure our warships darkened the Reaper's doorstep. When one makes a fire to cook an animal they've killed, warmth is only a bi-product. All of this—this burning warmth—will pass, and Tali will let this go." He looked down at Raan, eyes bright with conviction. "I am not arguing about this any longer, Shala."

Her shoulders slumped in defeat as she watched Rael walk away. She hadn't been holding out hope that he'd listen to her, but he respected her opinion if nothing else. Even planting a hint of doubt in the man's mind would have accomplished something, but she had only seemed to make the him more stubborn.

_A trait that he has generously passed on to his daughter,_ she thought dryly. Tali had been married to Mal yesterday, and had refused his bed, his company, and his home; she had slept at Raan's these past few days, alternately raging at her father's actions and going deathly silent.

Raan hadn't fared much better—she had stayed up until nearly dawn searching for some way to break this marriage, yet the laws were frighteningly difficult to find in detailed print. She had seen many historical accounts of this law mentioned in passing, but anything concerning the physical bill that contained the Marital Trade Act in full detail was scarce; not many records had survived the Morning War, and those that did were kept under tight guard in their databanks. She had not wanted to go there at first—it would attract far too much attention and she was afraid Rael would find out—but the quarian's public information centre hadn't helped her find the gritty fine print, which hopefully had a loophole buried in there.

She had also thought to contact Shepard. The man's negotiation skills would come in handy, but she was sure his presence on Rannoch would only fuel Rael's quest to keep Tali away from him.

Shala could understand, to a point, Rael's reasons for disliking the man. He wouldn't be able to give Tali children, something Raan had always hoped for for her niece, if only for her to experience the joy of having a child. And he was not an engineer, a status that was less than useless amongst quarians. And he was also human. This reason had not come to the surface strictly out of racism; the fear that the commander would not adhere to quarian culture, or treat Tali badly due to some odd human customs, was one Raan could understand. But speaking with Shepard for even five minutes told her that this fear could be easily put to rest.

She also knew her niece; Tali was a practical woman, and an intelligent one. Her settling with someone who could not support her, or even engage her on a purely intellectual level, was not something she would entertain. And it was something Rael denied to see for himself. He was a very static man, not welcoming or used to change; even their arrival to Rannoch had presented challenges for him. Accepting a human commander into their family and home after hundreds of years of exclusivity was daunting at best for Tali's father, and impossible at worst. And he appeared to have chosen the latter.

* * *

Tali had always enjoyed reading; it was an immersive escape from the noise and crowds that had filled her entire life. And better yet, it let her see worlds she could not dream of ever knowing or seeing—the suspense of a crime novel, the chivalry of a perfect hero falling in love, or the excitement of being able to watch battles unfold between the lines of prose. Sometimes even stuffy old engineering manuals got her blood pumping.

Now she couldn't read a single sentence without remember how thoroughly terrible her life currently was. Everything was a reminder. Romance novels were especially disturbing to her now; she would alternately think of either Shepard or Mal, and those two men in the same train of thought made her physically cringe away from whatever book she held in her hands.

There was only one way she could think of the two of them at once and not go insane—she had fantasised a few times of introducing John to her husband and lovingly watch him beat the man to death. It often transformed into _her_ being the one throwing the punches, and that only made her angry.

Thus, reading was out. She tossed away one of Raan's old hardbacks onto the couch cushion next to her, sighing. Her peace of mind had been destroyed in the span of five days; she could not enjoy silence anymore, as it would only become filled with anxious and vitriolic thoughts about her father or Mal.

Although she barely knew the man, the one thing she had come to realise about him was what fuelled her hatred; he had agreed to the marriage. Rael had approached Mal with an offer of marrying Tali to him without her consent, and Mal had agreed without questioning what she would think. Agreed to allow her father to take away her right to decide the path of her own life. Mal had helped Rael control her, and he got a nice lay out of it. Everyone would win, in their eyes.

And she? She was just a playing piece, a pretty-looking object to sport as a trophy wife or ruthlessly control until her mind decided that brain cells and decision making were no longer necessary, since everyone else did everything for her. She'd eat a bowl of shit before she let that happen.

There was a knock at the door, disrupting her cheery thoughts, and she got up from the couch to investigate. She tapped the console on the metal door and it whooshed open, revealing Mal, of all people.

She made to shut the door, but he grabbed her arm. "Wait—"

"Don't touch me," she growled, jerking her wrist out from his grasp. "What do you want?"

"You're coming home with me," he insisted, gesturing behind him.

"That's not my home—"

"Well it is now." He waved his arm at her, which housed a soft band wrapped around it. It was a mix of their clan fabrics, signifying their union. She'd tossed hers away the moment the ceremony had ended.

He noticed this, of course. "Where's yours?"

"I threw it away," she bit back, glaring at him. He seemed genuinely surprised at this.

"What's wrong with you? Why can't you just accept this?" Mal asked angrily.

"You think just because my father signed a legal document to marry me off to some stranger, I should just bow down and accept that?"

He looked at her as if she was a particularly slow child. "He's your father, and I'm your husband now. That's how it's supposed to work."

"Excuse me?" she thundered.

"It's in writing. You're my wife. Which means it's your duty to come live with me. Now come on—" He reached out to grab her wrist again.

She pulled back, lips curled in a snarl. "Stay away from me."

He blew out a breath. "Why can't you see this from my perspective?"

Her eyes widened. _"Your perspective—"_

"Your father approached me and asked me to marry you. He said that you were polite, dutiful, and attractive. I agree, thinking I've finally got a nice, new wife, and the minute you show up you treat me like garbage, threaten me, and then refuse to live with me. What kind of way is that to treat your husband? How self-centred—"

"Tali," Raan interrupted urgently, appearing over Mal's shoulder. "I must speak with you."

Mal turned. "Admiral, finally. I need you to talk some sense into your ni—"

"I was just about to do that," Raan interjected. "Now please leave us so that I may speak with her."

He nodded, looking pleased. "Good. Hopefully she'll see reason." Mal gave Tali a look of warning look, as if there would be consequences for not listening to her elders.

Raan stepped inside and promptly locked the door, barring Tali from any possibility of kicking the other, retreating quarian in the testicles. Instead, she whirled and glared at Shala.

"Auntie! Why would you—"

"Tali," Raan interrupted, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her. "I found the law in full detail."

Tali's eyes widened, and she felt a burst of nervous energy inside her. "Really?" she asked, bouncing on her toes. "Did you find something in it? A loophole, or—?"

Raan nodded, then gestured to the kitchen table. "Come sit."

Tali jumped into her seat, trying to calm the jitters that had suddenly appeared. There was a chance she could get away from Mal and go back to Earth. She'd sort out whatever issues her father had, but she wouldn't be bound by him or her "husband".

Raan cleared her throat. "The law is rather simple," she began, then held up her omni-tool and started to paraphrase the document. "A trade of two people from different clans is made, in which they become legally bound to one another. To ensure adequate time for trading and possible additional mergings between the clans, the 'bridge couple' will be obligated to stay together for a minimum of three years. By then it is hoped that the couple has grown on each other enough to remain married." Raan looked up, eyeing Tali with a hint of dry humour. "If, however, that is not the case, they are free to part ways whenever they wish after that contract is fulfilled."

She felt despair constrict her chest. "That's the good news? I have to stay with him for three years?" In the grand scheme of things, three years wasn't that long, but she'd been desperately hoping for a more expedient fix.

"I am not done yet," her aunt said, interrupting Tali's thoughts. She cleared her throat again and continued. "There are few circumstances in which this contract can be lifted early, but they are in place for the protection of all parties involved." Shala saw Tali jitter in her seat and smiled to herself before reading on. "If there is sufficient evidence of abuse—physical or otherwise—to either the wife or husband, the contract will be immediately terminated and both parties will part ways. Also, if both clans consent and wish to trade their respective persons off to another clan and present sufficient cause for this to be of greater gain, the contract can be lifted and both parties of the 'bridge couple' will then be traded with another clan. This practise may only be exercised once every contract, and each viable trading person or persons may not be traded more than three times in their lifetime. Note that this number resets if a person leaves one clan and joins another without marrying into it." Raan looked up from her omni-tool and shut it off. "There is more, but—"

Shala could see the gears turning in her niece's head. "So if I claim that Mal is abusing me and give enough evidence for it, I can end the marriage?" Tali asked excitedly.

Her aunt nodded. "Correct. However... this presents another problem."

Tali arched a brow. "What do you mean?"

"Do you think your father will believe you if you tell him that the man you hate and have only been married to for three days is abusing you?"

Her shoulders slumped. "I... no, he... he won't." She paused. "Can't I just 'present' my case to you?"

Raan shook her head. "You must present the evidence to the person who signed the contract. That way, there's less of a chance that people can escape by... well, doing what we're planning on doing." Shala picked at a pocket on her arm for a moment, then looked at her niece. "You also realise, Tali, what this will mean for Mal? His reputation will be slandered."

"I don't—" She was about to say _I don't care,_ but stopped herself. He was rather abrasive and an asshole, but could she do that to a person? That claim would hang on his shoulders for the rest of his life.

"If you go through with this, there is another thing you will have to consider," Raan continued. "This will take time. To gain your father's trust enough to be able to approach him with this claim, you must also gain Mal's. I have no doubt in my mind that Mal will complain to your father if you're not warm to him, and that will destroy any progress you make."

"So I... I have to pretend I love him," Tali concluded, and saw her aunt nod.

"Yes. If he keeps telling your father how wonderful the relationship is, and you tell Rael that Mal's being abusive, it will only make it seem like the man was trying to hide it."

"How long... how long do you think this will take?"

Raan shrugged. "I am not certain of that, Tali." She eyed her niece with anguish. "This will be very difficult, I know. Mal is not... he is a hard man to deal with. But this is the fastest way to get out of this marriage. Without this you will have to wait out the contract."

Tali felt tears sting her eyes. This was not what she wanted to hear. Tali was also not a good liar; pretending that she was in love with Mal would take everything she had, and the plan Raan put together would take time.

"I wish it was different, child, or that I could do more—"

"No," Tali argued, sniffling. "No, thank you auntie, truly. It's... not ideal, but l know that at least I won't be stuck with him forever." She smiled, touching Raan's arm. "Thank you for helping me."

Shala waved her off. "It is no problem. What your father has done is a terrible thing, and I want you to be happy."

"Keelah—" Tali shook her head. "What will I tell Shepard? He'll be waiting for me to come back, and I can't even contact him."

"I would let you speak with him on my own omni-tool, but your father is suspicious of me already for spending time with you, and he knows I like the commander. Rael is likely waiting for encrypted data to be sent to Earth from Rannoch." Her aunt straightened a little. "Speaking of Earth, that reminds me. There is a galactic meeting being held there in two weeks time, and I'm certain that Shepard will be present." Raan looked at her niece. "You speaking to him in a political setting is something your father cannot control. Explaining this... situation to him there I think would be best."

Tali nodded, feeling some of the tightness loosen in her chest. She would be able to see John a little earlier than she'd thought, which was good news. She just had to placate the devil on her back to get there.


End file.
